Rimmer wins goalie battle as Lethbridge stonewalls Hitmen

Not the result Calgary was looking for in their first game back from holiday vacation

Hitmen’s Chris Dridger, left, and Peter Kosterman watch as the Lethbridge’s Jaimen Yakubowski attempts to coral the puck during their WHL game at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night.

Photograph by: Stuart Gradon
, Calgary Herald

Friday’s game between the Calgary Hitmen and the Lethbridge Hurricanes started out as a goaltending duel between Chris Driedger and Ty Rimmer.

But it in the end, Rimmer, the overage Hurricanes netminder who hit the 1,000 save mark in his Western Hockey League career earlier this month, came out on top and made 36 saves in a 2-1 Lethbridge victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

“Obviously, he played really well,” commended Driedger, who faced 25 shots from the visitors.

“There were a lot of pucks in the slot we could have beared down on and scored, but bobbled it or tried to make an extra pass and it didn’t work.

“It was kind of too bad we couldn’t get more by him, but I definitely think we should have had four or five goals.”

Rimmer had a shutout in his sights on Friday, as teammates Brady Ramsay and Sam Mc­kechnie gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.

But, with just 4:01 remaining, Calgary’s Brooks Macek gave the Hitmen some life on a power play, expertly picking a corner over Rimmer’s shoulder thanks to some screen work by his teammates in front.

Unfortunately, although they ended the run at his second goose-egg of the year, the Hitmen couldn’t muster a comeback.

“We didn’t start off as good as we should have,” said Macek, the team’s leading scorer, of their seven-shot effort in the opening 20 minutes. “I don’t think we were as prepared as we should have been.

“We know Lethbridge is a team that comes out hard from the opening faceoff. We eventually got our legs under us and I think we got better as the game went on.”

But Rimmer frustrated the Hitmen all night, making 17 saves in the second period and standing especially tall in the third with one particularly nice save on a Kenton Helgesen slapshot after a feed from Zane Jones.

It was a tight game — and no different than the last two tilts between the teams, back on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21.

To open their season series, the Hitmen were badly outplayed on the road but managed to walk away with a 3-2 victory while Driedger posted a 42-save outing. The following night, Rimmer had made 46 saves in another 3-2 Calgary win.

As such, he expected another busy night on Friday.

“It all kind of depends on the shots,” Rimmer said. “If I’m seeing them and my D-men are helping me on those second and third chances, yeah, I love that. My guys were right there. I was making the first save and covering it up.

“They were putting guys on their butts. That’s what we need. It was a big game, coming off the break, and we needed a win so I needed to be at my best.”

However, it wasn’t the way the Hitmen planned on returning from their holiday break, playing their first game since a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Dec. 18.

The good news?

They have a glorious opportunity for redemption tonight in Lethbridge for the second half of their home-and-home with the ’Canes.

With the loss, Calgary dropped to 23-9-1-3 and a 11-8-1-2 posting at the Dome. Meanwhile, Lethbridge improved to 18-16-1-4.

“It was disappointing, but that’s how the second half is going to be,” said head coach Mike Williamson.

“Teams are going to play hard, they’re going to play desperate, and you have to match that. There’s going to be some nights you don’t come up with a win, like (Friday), and we have an opportunity (Saturday) just like we would in a playoff series to turn around and get a much-needed win.

“That’ll be our approach and our guys will be ready.”

ICE CHIPS ...Calgary scratched D Josh Thrower and LW Jake Virtanen (both at the under-17 world championships in Quebec), LW Calder Brooks (shoulder), C Victor Rask (world juniors with Sweden), and LW Brendan Hurley ... Call-up Ben Thomas saw his first regular-season action after opening the season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League ... D Kenton Helgesen, an Anaheim Ducks prospect, racked up his ninth fight of the season, scrapping with Lethbridge defenceman Macoy Erkamps in the second period ... Rask helped Sweden edge Switzerland in a 3-2 victory, scoring the lone goal of the shootout to improve the 2012 gold medallists to 2-0 at the 2013 IIHF world junior championships in Ufa, Russia.

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